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Michael Raymond-James

SHOOT: Wooden August Becomes Young Pinocchio at ONCE UPON A TIME 2×18 Shoot in Fort Langley

August (Eion Bailey) found redemption on Once Upon a Time last night, becoming a “real boy” again after years of wrongdoing by being as Brave, Truthful & UnSelfish as Pinocchio is supposed to be.  We have not seen wooden August in the second season, partly to accommodate Bailey, who was cast as the male lead in Jerry Bruckheimer’s drama pilot Trooper but the Covert Affairs/ER actor became available again in the new year when TNT chose to pick up to series the to-be-filmed-in-Vancouver Maxwell & King instead of Trooper. I hope last night doesn’t mark Bailey’s exit from the modern fairy tale series.

Related: Eion Bailey & Michael Raymond-James film Manhattan flashback scenes in Gastown

Once Upon a Time filmed the scenes of the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) waving her wand over the dead wooden August (Eion Bailey) on February 12th at the Fort Langley Community Centre dressed as Storybrooke Town Hall, previously messed-up in 2×03 to show the destructive path of the wraith. August tries to warn Emma (Jennifer Morrison) about Neal/Baelfire (Michael Raymond-James)’s fiancee Tamara  (Sonequa Martin Green) before dying. Charming (Josh Dallas) and Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) rush to August’s aid, with Snow  distraught to see him die because she needs to believe in redemption. But Henry (Jared Gilmore) is the one who realizes August can be saved because of his sacrifice. And so it happens. The Blue Fairy waves her wand and wooden grownup August regresses back to the real boy Pinocchio (Jakob Davies) he once was to the delight of his father Geppetto (Tony Amendola). Pinocchio will do better this time.

Read More »SHOOT: Wooden August Becomes Young Pinocchio at ONCE UPON A TIME 2×18 Shoot in Fort Langley

WEEK: March 18-24, 2013

SHOOT: Eion Bailey & Michael Raymond-James Film ONCE UPON A TIME 2×18 Manhattan Flashbacks in Gastown

In early February, a savvy friend predicted that August would return to Once Upon a Time at that day’s shoot in Gastown dressed as Soho. So it wasn’t a complete surprise to find August’s motorcycle amid a dozen prop yellow NYC taxicabs parked on Columbia Street. Or when his August stunt double appeared on the Powell Street set. Or when Eion Bailey showed up along with Michael Raymond-James as Neal/Baelfire. The two men had a long animated chat while their Manhattan flashback scene was set up near the building used as Neal/Baelfire’s apartment.

Production asked us not to share the secret of August’s return and we agreed. It might have worked if others hadn’t seen the public scene in the afternoon of the two men talking and  Sonequa Martin Green (The Walking Dead) as Neal’s future fiancee Tamara, bumping into Neal in take after take.

Selfless, Brave and True is the story of August — of a wooden Pinocchio made boy who grew up to be a man ashamed of his actions. 

Read More »SHOOT: Eion Bailey & Michael Raymond-James Film ONCE UPON A TIME 2×18 Manhattan Flashbacks in Gastown

SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) & Neal (Michael Raymond-James) on Third Beach in Stanley Park

Updated May 5, 2013 – Emma and Neal/Baelfire were checking whether devious Tamara (Sonequa Martin Green) was out running as she claimed instead of holding Regina captive, as Emma suspected. I didn’t notice that I’d photographed her in a lycra hoodie below.

This is Michael Raymond-James’s “big scene on a rainy beach” with Jennifer Morrison yesterday on Third Beach in Stanley Park. Sorry Swanfire fans. This doesn’t look particular romantic  It seems Emma Swan  and her baby daddy Baelfire have some issues to work out.

Once Upon a Time spent Friday shooting scenes on the forest trails above Third Beach with horses on set but took time out to film the beach scene around “magic hour”. At least what passes for the last hour of sunlight on a rainy day. The scene took less than half-an-hour to shoot with production assistants stopping joggers and walkers at both ends of the seawall during filming.

Update: Didn’t realize that I’d photographed Tamara (Sonequa Martin Green)  jogging in her hoodie below.

Read More »SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) & Neal (Michael Raymond-James) on Third Beach in Stanley Park

SHOOT: Jennifer Morrison, Michael Raymond-James & Jared Gilmore on Pirate Ship Set in Steveston for 2×16

Update: This deleted scene appears on the season 2 DVD-Blu-ray.

So Rumplestiltskin’s son Baelfire (Michael Raymond-James) spent some time in Neverland, where he made the acquaintance of Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and learned how to sail a pirate ship. And that explains why Bae isn’t a couple of hundred years old, as some smart Once Upon a Time fans calculated he would be, if born during the Ogre Wars. Some have even speculated that Bae is Peter Pan too. Not necessarily but it will be interesting to see his Neverland backstory.

Father-and-son Bae and Henry sail the pirate ship set from Manhattan (Gastown) to Storybrooke (Steveston) while Emma walks  past them from the stern in the scene below. Is a dying Rumplestilstkin (Robert Carlyle) somewhere on board? And what about his assailant Hook? Likely tied up and left behind in Manhattan (Gastown).

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Read More »SHOOT: Jennifer Morrison, Michael Raymond-James & Jared Gilmore on Pirate Ship Set in Steveston for 2×16

WEEK: February 25 – March 3, 2013

SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Father-and-Son Bonding in Steveston for 2×19

Whatever else is going on in Storybrooke in the nineteenth episode of season two, newly-acquainted father-and-son Baelfire and Henry, and the actors who play them, continue to bond.

Michael Raymond-James and Jared Gilmore had an incredible amount of fun rehearsing and filming their play sword fight in Fisherman’s Park  in Steveston yesterday morning and early afternoon in front of passersby, local fans and two fans visiting from France.

Michael Raymond-James jumped on a picnic table at one point in their rambling play sword fight down the grassy hill of the park. And during one take, Raymond-James jokingly held his wooden sword to the throat of the boom operator once he’d moved out of frame.

Read More »SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Father-and-Son Bonding in Steveston for 2×19

SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Rumple Family in Gastown for 2×15 – Updated

That’s one messed up family. Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle)’s long-lost son Baelfire (Michael Raymond-James) turns out to be Henry (Jared Gilmore)’s father Neal, much to Emma (Jennifer Morrison)’s dismay. After a lot of yelling, most of the secrets are out, and it’s time for this estranged family to get to know one another in Gastown dressed as Manhattan.

[Update February 25th: Once Upon a Time tweeted a section of the script for the scenes I photographed.]

© 2013 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

The actors who play the Rumple family are not estranged. They have the best time portraying these characters. Jennifer Morrison and Michael Raymond-James have been cracking each other up since Tallahassee, laughing and joking in between serious takes. And  you can see Raymond-James gets on well with both his TV father Robert Carlyle and son Jared Gilmore in these photographs taken in Gastown on January 9th.

Read More »SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Rumple Family in Gastown for 2×15 – Updated